Electric conductor-hanger alining means



June 27, 1961 Filed Jan. 22, 1957 INVENTOR HARRY Y E MAeEocH ATTORNEYUnited rates This invention relates generally to electric powerconductor systems and more particularly to improvements in theconstruction of rails for conducting electric power to a mobile unit.

Commonly, rails for conducting electric power to a mobile unit have apair of longitudinally extending legs that diverge downwardly andoutwardly from the center and on opposite sides of the rail, andnormally each rail comprises a multiplicity of rail sections aligned inend to end relation. For drawing electric power from the conductor rail,the mobile unit is provided with current collectors that are fitted withshoes which move along the rail in frictional contact with theundersurface thereof. It the undersurfaces of adjacent rail sections arenot in exact alignment, a transversely extending step is formed at themeeting ends thereof, and the current collector shoes must pass underthis step in moving from one rail section to the other, in consequenceof which, whenever a shoe passes under misaligned meeting ends ofadjacent rail section's, the entire conductor system receives a severeshock, operation is unduly noisy, and the current collector shoe issubjected to excessive wear.

Such rails commonly are suspended from hangers that are provided withfittings of channel shape in transverse section. The base walls of thefittings overlie a generally flat head that is formed integral with andwhich overlies the rail legs aforesaid, and the side walls of thefittings extend downwardly on opposite sides of the rail head and hookunder the same. Preferredly, the rail head is slidably received by thechannel fittings for movement of the rail relative to the fittings whenthe rail shifts under the influence of expansion or contraction due totemperature changes. Known constructions are not entirely satisfactorybecause when the rail shifts relative to a hanger, the fitting turnsslightly about the vertical axis of the hanger and locks with the railhead, in the same way that a washer locks on a rod when the washer isthin in comparison with the size of the rod and a force is applied toone side of the washer to cant the same relative to the longitudinalaxis of and in an attempt to move it along the rod. When the fitting andthe rail head are interlocked in the manner aforesaid and the railshifts, the hanger is moved to an undesirable inclined position. In viewof the foregoing, therefore, it is a principal object of the presentinvention to provide an improved construction of conductor rail andconductor rail fittings.

Another principal object of the present invention is to provide improvedconductor rail and conductor rail fittings having indexing means forconveniently aligning accurately sections of the rail, to therebyeliminate transversely extending steps at misaligned meeting ends ofadjoining rail sections.

And another principal object of the present inventionv is to provideimproved conductor rail and conductor rail hanger fittings wherein thetendency for the latter to lock on the head of the rail in the manneraforesaid is eliminated.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear morefully hereinafter, it being understood that the invention consistssubstantially in the combination, construction, location and relativearrangement of parts, all as described in detail hereinafter, as shownin the atent accompanying drawings and as finally pointed out in theappended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation at a splice between a pair of conductorrail sections constructed in accordance with and embodying theprinciples of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged transverse section taken on line 2-2 of FIGURE1.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation showing the conductor rail and the lowerend of a hanger carrying the same.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged transverse section taken on line 4-4 of FIGURE3.

FIGURE 5 is a bottom view of the conductor rail and conductor railhanger assembly shown in FIGURE 3, part being broken away and sectionedfor the sake of clarity.

Referring to the drawing, the conductor rail constructed in accordancewith and embodying the principles of the present invention comprisesa'pair of longitudinally extending opposite side legs 10 and 11 thatdiverge at right angles to one another downwardly and outwardly from thecenter of the rail. Formed integral with and overlying these rail legsis a rail head 12 that is of a width sufiicient for overlying the raillegs 10 and 11. The portion of the rail head that overhangs the rail leg10, designated 13, is provided with an undersurface '14 that slopesupwardly and inwardly from the side of the rail head, and the portion ofthe rail head that overhangs the rail leg 11, designated 15, is providedwith an underlying longitudinally extending integral head 16. This bead,of V-shape in transverse section, extends throughout the full length ofthe rail and is disposed immediately adjacent the side of the rail head,as shown.

Referring particularly to FIGURES l and 2, the means for splicing railsections comprises an elongated fitting 17 of channel shape intransverse section. The base wall of this fitting, designated 18, isdisposed in parallel overlying spaced relation to the rail head 12, andthe side walls extend downwardly on opposite sides of the rail head. One

of these side walls, designated 19, terminates at its lower end in alongitudinally extending portion 20 thatextends laterally inwardlytherefrom and hooks under the side portion *13 of the rail head. ,Theother side wall, designated 21, terminates at its lower end in alongitudinally extending portion 22 that extends laterally inwardlytherefrom and books under the side portion 15 of the rail head. The hookforming portion 22 is provided with a groove 23 that is shapedcomplementally to and which registers with the overlying bead 16depending from the side portion 15 of the rail head.

The means for splicing rail sections also comprises an elongated springmetal plate 24 that is slightly arcuate in transverse section. Thisplate extends over the opposed rail head portions and under the basewall 18 of the fitting 17. For securing the several parts againstdisplacement relative to one another, a set of studs 25 are threadedthrough the base wall 18 of the fitting 17 and brought to bear upon thespring plate 24 to clamp the opposed rail head portions between thespring plate 24 and the hook forming portions 20 and 22 respectively ofthe fitting side wa1ls'19 and 21.

It will be appreciated that due to manufacturing tolerances, the cleardistance between the side walls 19 and 21 of the fitting 17 may begreater than the overall width of the rail head. In this event, thebeading underlying the opposed end portions of the rail sections, andthe groove 23 that is formed in the side wall portion 22 of the fitting17 coact to secure the opposed end portions of the rail sections againstany lateral offset relative to one another.

It will also be appreciated that one of the rail legs 10 or 11 may beslightly thinner than the other. In this 3 event, the beading and thegroove 23 aforesaid insure that the conductor rail will be assembledwith the thinner legs of the rail sections on the same side of theconductor rail and the thicker legs on the opposite side.

It will further be appreciated that the leg of the rail may be disposedat'one angle relative to the longitudinal median plane of the rail,while the rail leg ll is disposed at a different angle. In this event,the beading and the groove 23 aforesaid insure that the rail legsections on the same side of the conductor rail will be disposed at thesame angle relative to the median plane aforesaid.

It should be obvious that the portions of the head 16 associated wtihthe opposed end portions of the rail sections and the groove 23 that isformed in the underlying side wall portion 22 of the fitting 17 and inwhich the bead portions aforesaid are seated are effective indexingmeans for exactly aligning the rail sections, and particularly theundersurfaces thereo-f to thereby eliminate any transversely extendingstep that would otherwise beformed at the meeting ends of the railsections.

Now referring particularly to FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, the hanger means forsuspending the conductor rail constructed in accordance with andembodying the principles of the present invention comprises an elongatedfitting 26 that is the same in transverse section asthe fitting 17,being provided with a base wall 27 and a pair of side walls 28 and 29that extend about and engagethe rail head in the same manner as thefitting 17. The latter is secured to the lower end of an insulator unit30 by a rivet 31 that extends through the base wall 27 of the fitting26.

It will be appreciated that the conductor rail should slide freely inthe hanger fitting 26 when the conductor rail shifts in the direction ofits length. However, when such shifting of the rail occurs, there is atendency for the hanger fitting 2a to turn about the axis of the rivet31 and lock with the rail head. This tendency to lock depends upon theratio of the effective width of the rail head to the length of thehanger fitting 26. The greater the ratio the greater the tendency tolock. In the absence of the bead 16, the effective width of the railhead corresponds to the actual width thereof. However, when the head 16is provided, the effective width of the rail head corresponds to thewidth of the bead 16. Therefore, the. ratio aforesaid is smallenand thetendency to lock is reduced to a minimum when the bead 16 is provided.

It will be understood, of course, that the present llr vention ashereinbefore described and as shown in the accompanying drawings issusceptible of various changes and modifications which may be made fromtime to time without departing from the general principles of realspirit of the invention, and accordingly it is intended to claim thesame broadly, as well as specifically, as indicated by the appendedclaims.

What is claimed as new and useful is:

1. In apparatus of the character described, the cornbi nation comprisinga longitudinally extending conductor rail having a main body portion ofinverted V shape in transverse cross section to provide a pair ofdownwardly diverging side wall parts and a fiat topped head portionintegral with and extending transversely across the top ridge of saidbody portion to provide the latter with a pair of opposite projectingWing parts, one of said wing parts having a longitudinally extendingbead formed integrally therewith and depending therefrom at the outerundersurface thereof, an elongated rail-securing member of C-shape intransverse cross-section extending parallel to said rail including abase wall disposed in superposed spaced relation to said rail head and apair of opposite side walls embracing therebetween said rail head, thebottom edges of said rail-head-embracing side walls being inwardly andupwardly turned to provide hook-like portions respectively underlying inface to face engagement with the opposite wing parts of the rail headand closely overlying the downwardly diverging side wall parts of saidconductor rail of inverted shape, the one of said hook-like portionsunderlyingly engaging the beaded wing part of the rail head beingprovided with a groove shaped complementally to that of the overlyingbead to furnish a close-fitting seat for the latter, an elongatedtransversely slightly-bowed flat plate member extending parallel to saidrail and interposed between the flat topped railhead and the overlyingbase wall of said rail-securing member, said plate member being of awidth approximately equal to that of the rail head with the transversebowing being effective to provide a pair of longitudinally extendingopposite side portions downwardly inclined relatively to its centralportion, the longitudinally extending marginal edge portions of saidplate member being respective seated upon the opposite wing parts of therail head, said slightly-bowed plate member having an inherent biastending to urge the central portion thereof to normally assume aposition raised above the rail head, and means operatively interposedbetween said rail-securing member and said plate member for pressing thecentral portion of the plate member toward said rail head against theinherent bias of the plate member to securely clamp together the railand its securing member with the opposite side portions of the platemember respectively in substantial fiat-wise engagement with the wingparts of the rail head andwith the rail head depending wing bead seatedfirmly in the complementally shaped groove formed in the underlyinghook-like portion of the rail-securing member. 2. The apparatusaccording to claim 1 wherein said rail head wing part depending bead isV-shaped with one Side of the V sloping outwardly upward to terminatingintersection with the outer side edge of the rail head, and wherein theunderlying complementally shaped groove in the hook-like portion of therail-securing member is located relative to the inside surface of itsassociated side wall so that the outer side edge of the above-lying railhead substantially abuts the said inside surface of the side wall,whereby relative lateral shift between the rail head and rail securingmember is positively precluded.

References Cited in the file of this patent .UNITED STATES PATENTS194,496 Doty Aug. 21, 1877 476,241 Bouscaren June 7, 1892 546,107 WarnerSept. 10, 1895 560,098 Keithley May 12, 1896 819,149 Lung May 1, 1906 7819,537 Gabriel May 1, 1906 929,026 Scholz July 27, 1909 1,398,005Colabrese Nov. 22, 1921 1,741,804 Zilliox Dec. 31, 1929 2,132,572 ManeyOct.'ll, 1938 2,640,114 Wehr May 26, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 817,160Germany Oct. 15, 1951

